540 THE CHINESE
large number of non-degree holders attached to most offices was
added, the percentage of the population deriving its income from
the public purse was probably not nearly so high as that in many
Western states of to-day. Then, too, no huge public debt existed,
with heavy charges for interest and sinking funds. Moreover,
while the military forces took a large proportion of the revenues
of the government, the burden was not nearly so crushing as is
that of the armies and navies of many modern states. The China
of the Ch'ing dynasty was by no means a fiscal paradise. It dis-
played much corruption and inefficiency. However, the financial
burden placed upon the realm by the Emperor and the hierarchy,
judged by modern standards, appears not to have been particu-
larly onerous.
THE MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT
After the great revolt during the early part of the reign of
K'ang Hsi and before the foreign wars and rebellions of the mid-
dle of the nineteenth century, the military organization of the
China of the Ch'ing was, in its main outlines, about as follows.
First of all, there were the descendants of those who had con-
quered China, now become, in theory, an army of occupation.
The original army of conquest, it will be recalled, had been made
up of Manchus, Mongols, and Chinese. This was grouped into
what were called "Banners"—of varying colors. Eventually these
numbered twenty-four, although often they were called the
"Eight Banners," each of the latter being divided into three'
groups—of Manchus, Chinese, and Mongols. Incidentally, the
Banners and the civil service provided posts for most of the Man-
chus resident in the Eighteen Provinces. At the time of the con-
quest, the Bannermen amounted possibly to two hundred thou-
sand, a total later raised to about two hundred and fifty thou-
sand. Membership was inherited, and eventually the Banners
possessed an enrollment of not far from three hundred thousand.
About half were stationed in Chihli (Hopei), where they could
defend the capital. A large number were in Manchuria, the home
of the dynasty, and good-sized contingents were placed" in Sin-
kiang, to hold that turbulent possession, and in Kansu, Shensi>
and Shansi, to defend the northern frontier. There were gar-
risons, but totalling only a small minority of the whole, in other